


family matters.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: captured moments. [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Breakfast, F/M, One Shot Collection, Professor Ben Solo, Short One Shot, Waiters & Waitresses, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Ben watched her walk away and then turned his attention back to Luke, and he instantly knew that Luke had figured it out.  “Shut up.”“I didn't say a word.”“But I know what you're going to say already, so shut up.”or:  Ben's in the café for breakfast, his uncle shows up, and Luke discovers something Ben would much rather keep to himself.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: captured moments. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602691
Comments: 8
Kudos: 87





	family matters.

**Author's Note:**

> And we're here with part four. I have no idea how many parts there will be of this yet. 
> 
> And as always, if you like what you've read here, please let me know via a comment or a kudos or a bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

Ben didn't teach on Wednesday mornings and so he had a lot more freedom as to what he wanted to do. He scheduled his office hours for the afternoon after his classes were over so that he could have the morning to himself, and he usually spent that time working out his lectures for the rest of the week or grading the rest of the essays that he'd given up on the night before. 

But not this Wednesday.

He walked into the café a little after nine, and it was about as busy as it usually was, which meant that it was hardly busy at all. He waved at Poe when he walked in, and he picked up a menu and headed to an open table when Poe told him to seat himself. He was hoping that sitting in the back might mean that he'd get Rey as a waitress again, though he didn't know why.

Well, he knew exactly why, but he was refusing to admit that to himself.

He smiled when she walked out of the kitchen a few moments later, watching as she went from table to table making sure that everyone had what they needed. She spotted Ben a moment later and walked over to him with a smile, and Ben thought that smile was something he could live for.

He spent a moment thinking about how stupid that thought was before shoving it to the back of his mind. “Good morning, Rey.”

“Good morning, Ben,” Rey said, reaching into her apron for her order book. “Has Rose gotten your drink order already?”

“I didn't even know Rose was here,” Ben said. “I'll just have coffee and water again.”

“You drink a lot of coffee,” Rey said as she wrote that down.

“Something has to keep me going and coffee usually does the trick.”

Rey smiled at him. “Coffee does that for me too. I'll be right back with it.”

Ben added the fact that she liked coffee to the list of things that he knew about her and then he sighed heavily. This was becoming a problem already and it was only the fourth time he'd ever seen her. He was starting to become more convinced that Poe was right when he said that Ben needed to hit up a bar and get laid.

But he didn't want anyone at a bar. He wanted Rey.

That thought terrified him.

She came back a moment later with his drinks, and Ben took a deep breath before saying something. “How's _Macbeth_?”

“Finished,” Rey said, laughing. “I don't understand it at all, but I'm glad I read it.”

“I am not surprised that you didn't pick up on the themes of it,” Ben said. “It usually takes several reads of anything Shakespeare wrote before you start to notice them, and even then you need to delve deeper to truly understand them.”

“Yes, well, reading it made me glad that I didn't get into your class. It would have dragged my GPA down so much because there is no way that I'd be able to pass it, and I had to keep my GPA at a certain level or my grandfather would have killed me. He was already mad enough at my degree path.”

“Well, my grandfather keeps trying to convince me to go to law school, so I sympathize with the grandfather bit.”

Rey smiled at him. “Law school?”

“Both he and my father are very successful lawyers,” Ben explained. “And as I am the only one of the next generation, I was supposed to follow in their footsteps, apparently. I would hate being a lawyer though. I much prefer my life the way it is.”

“My grandfather wanted me to be a doctor, so I sympathize with that too,” Rey said, grabbing her order book again. “Do you know what you want to order?”

Ben looked at the menu quickly and chose an omelet that he'd never had before, and after confirming that he wanted breakfast potatoes and not hashbrowns, Rey nodded. “It'll be right out.”

“I take it that means Finn's working today.”

Rey laughed. “Yeah, he is. Poe said he's the fastest cook he's ever had.”

“Well, the food is definitely better when Finn makes it,” Ben said. “He might be fast, but it's always cooked perfectly. You can tell him that for me.”

“I think he'd like to hear that,” Rey said. “I'll be back with your food in a bit.”

Ben nodded as Rey walked away and he was struck by her beauty once again. She really was absolutely gorgeous and he just wanted her to know that. 

He thought about telling her for about two seconds before he realized where that could lead, and then he shoved that idea to the back of his mind. He was entirely too old for her and she probably had a boyfriend anyway.

Not that he needed to be anyone's boyfriend. A girlfriend would mess up his life too much.

Poe sat down across from him a few moments later, and Ben could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to like what Poe had to say. “What is it?”

“What is it? Come on, Ben. You have to know why I'm here.”

Ben ran his hands over his face and shook his head. “I am absolutely not doing this. I know like five things about her. That's it.”

“So, you ask her to go to dinner with you where you would learn more things about her,” Poe said. “That's sort of how this works.”

“I am very serious about the fact that I don't need a girlfriend,” Ben said firmly. “And I am not going to have you conspiring against me trying to get me one either.”

“I am not conspiring against you. If I wanted to do that, I'd tell Leia about her,” Poe said. “And the more you resist this, the more I'm going to decide that telling Leia is a good idea.”

“Telling Mama anything is never a good idea. The whole family will know about it before I can blink.”

“That's not a nice thing to say about your mother.”

“I don't care if it's nice or not. It's the truth.”

Poe looked behind himself when the door opened, and he grinned when he saw who had just walked in. “Luke! Come sit back here with Ben!”

Ben gave Poe a look as he stood up. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I like your uncle and so do you,” Poe said, smiling at Luke as he approached them. “Coffee and an orange juice like usual?”

“That would be great, Poe,” Luke said as he sat down.

“I'll have Rey bring it right out then. She's new, but Ben really likes her, so you're in good hands.”

Ben glared at Poe as Poe laughed and then walked away, turning his attention to his uncle in front of him. “Good morning, Luke.”

“Good morning to yourself,” Luke said, running his hands over his face. “It's too fucking early.”

“You should be asleep then,” Ben said seriously. “The last thing anyone needs is you being sleep deprived.”

“Don't worry, I got that speech from Dad already when I went over there to drop off something for Mom,” Luke said, taking a deep breath. “I can't help the fact that I work the best from like midnight to five a.m. or something. It's when I feel the most creative.”

“I wish I could feel creative,” Ben said, sighing. “I haven't written anything in at least a month.”

“That's because the semester is up and going. Not because you don't have any creativity at the moment,” Luke pointed out. “This always happens to you the first month or so of a semester and then things calm down and you can write again.”

“I hope that you're right about that because I really need to get some thoughts in my head out before they kill me,” Ben said as Rey approached the table.

“The words will come, Ben. Don't stress about it,” Luke said as Rey set his drinks down in front of him. 

“Hello, I'm Rey,” she said, smiling at Luke. “Do you know what you want to order yet? I can come back if you don't.”

“A few minutes would be great.”

“Then I'll be back in a few minutes. And Ben? Finn says thank you for the compliment. Yours will be out shortly.”

Ben couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. “Thank you, Rey.”

Ben watched her walk away and then turned his attention back to Luke, and he instantly knew that Luke had figured it out. “Shut up.”

“I didn't say a word.”

“But I know what you're going to say already, so shut up.”

Luke just rolled his eyes. “You are attracted to her.”

Ben reached for his coffee and took a long sip. “And if I am? So what?”

“Ben, I cannot remember the last time I knew you were attracted to a girl,” Luke said seriously. “It's been a long, long time.”

Ben sighed heavily. “Maybe, but this doesn't matter. I can't do anything about it.”

Luke gave him a confused look. “Why not?”

“You are seriously asking me that question?”

Luke just shook his head. “I am choosing to remain a widower that hasn't moved on. You, on the other hand, are not that.”

“No, I'm just at least ten years older than her and she probably wouldn't like me anyway.”

“Have you noticed the age difference between your parents lately?” Luke asked. “Because you are the product of two people with a considerable age difference.”

Ben groaned. “Why do you have to talk so much sense?”

“Because you're clearly not thinking clearly,” Luke said seriously. “What is the problem really? Is she a student?”

“No, she graduated three years ago,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “And you know what the problem is.”

Luke softened. “Ben, just because I had to go through the heartbreak of losing Mara, that doesn't mean that you need to completely reject the idea of you even having a Mara.”

“I don't want to feel that pain.”

“You have to take that risk, Ben. It's the only way you're going to be happy, and I know that you're really miserable.”

“And how do you know that?” Ben snapped. “None of you have any clue what I am.”

Luke just gave him a look. “Don't even try that on me, Ben. It's incredibly obvious that you're miserable. Why do you think that Dad keeps talking to you about law school? He's convinced that it's because you're not happy with your job. Leia keeps trying to find you a date because she's convinced that you're miserable because you're alone. Whatever the reason is, you're miserable.”

“Here you go, Ben,” came Rey's voice, and Ben's eyes shot up to look at her.

He hadn't even noticed her approaching. 

“Thank you, Rey,” he said softly, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she likely just overheard all of that.

“No problem, Ben,” Rey said, smiling at him before turning to Luke. “Have you decided what you want to order yet?”

Luke looked across the table and nodded. “Just bring me what Ben's eating. Same exact thing. And then the bill goes to me.”

“That's not necessary,” Ben said, but Luke just shook his head.

“I'm buying breakfast,” Luke said firmly. “So that is what is happening.”

“I'll go put the order in,” Rey said after a moment, breaking the tension. “Would you like more coffee, Ben?”

“Please,” Ben said, his eyes not leaving Luke.

“Then I'll be right back.”

The moment Rey was far enough away, Ben reached out and slapped Luke on the shoulder. “She fucking heard that.”

“So? If you're going to get to know her better, then she needs to know these things about you. That's the only way she will be able to make you happier.”

Ben sat back in his seat and reached for his silverware. “I hate you.”

“No, you really don't and you know it.”

Ben was three bites into his omelet before he spoke again. “Not a word to Mama, please.”

Rey came back at that moment and refilled his coffee, and Ben couldn't help but smile at her. “Thank you, Rey.”

“No problem, Ben. Are you needing some more as well?”

Luke shook his head as he reached for his. “Haven't even touched it yet.”

“Then I'll be back with your food shortly.”

Rey walked away and Ben followed her with his eyes, and once she was in the kitchen, he turned his attention back to Luke. “I seriously want you to shut up now.”

“I won't say a thing to Leia, but you've got to promise me that you'll do something about this, Ben,” Luke said. “At least take the chance of asking her out.”

Ben took another four bites before responding. “If that will get you to shut up about this, then fine. I will ask her out. But not today. I hardly know anything about her.”

“So long as you do it, that's all I care about,” Luke said, taking a sip of his coffee. “What would you like to talk about instead?”

“Tell me how the paintings are coming along. Grandma said something about you using the bridge for inspiration.”

Luke smiled. “I can do that.”


End file.
